Hard Work

November 10, 2016 • Sammy Gunnell

The new NBA season is here! I know, I'm late. It's already in full swing, but one of the first games of the 2016-17 was a gritty reminder of what we realised back in June, nothing is guaranteed in the world of sports. In that historical series the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead (apparently) and Lebron James was basically hard work personified.

Over the summer that followed super teams were supposedly formed (not the Knicks, sorry D-Rose...), and the rest of the league studied tapes and drew up plans of how to stop the golden boys turned super villains of the Western Conference. The Spurs have apparently nailed it. But when I tuned into the Spurs - Warriors season opener I found myself not just being in awe on Kawhi's performance (although I definitely was) or finding it strange not to see Timmy D on the court, but instead asking the question, who on earth is Jonathan Simmons? It wasn't too long after the game that I heard news that he's an ex D-League player who hustled hard, and found himself on the roster of what is arguably the most solid team in the NBA right now.

As the final few seconds closed this game out, the Spurs lead by a blow out 27 points, Warriors fans made their way to the parking lot and Reggie Miller reminded us that there are still 81 games left to play in the season. Meanwhile, Jonathan Simmons took it upon himself to remind any overpaid superstars trying their luck on a superteam, that winning a championships takes more than 82 games. Hard work pays off.